Six Degrees of Seperation or Less
by Clover80
Summary: The only kill that Brutus ever regretted. Tributes from District 2 should not feel remorse or shame when they kill but sometimes things don't go the way they should.
1. Wrongful Death

I volunteered because it was right, not because I wanted to so much. People think that but really all I wanted was to save the life of some poor kid that lived in the slums and was surviving on tesserae. Besides, I was trained, ready to go and I would survive unlike the other boy who walked with a limp and had glasses so thick they could have been soda bottles. I had only ever tasted soda once; before I went to the training academy and those sorts of sugary pleasures were forbidden. All pleasures were forbidden all we were supposed to know was violence and deprivation, the Center's way of making us ready for the games. If we never knew what it was like to love anyone and treat them with kindness we would have no problem slaughtering other kids in the arena. If we never knew what it was like to eat a huge meal, only canned food and packaged meats we would be able to survive on the supplies the game makers provided us with. Otherwise we survived on vitamins and protein shakes that tasted like chalk., even when we went to the Capitol as tributes. The Training Center produces twisted human beings focused on nothing but killing because it is the only thing that they have been taught is allowed to be pleasurable. We were taught to rejoice at the sight of blood, to laugh in the face of someone's dying gasps. It wasn't until later that we found out it was all a lie; that watching someone else die doesn't bring about the elation it's supposed to.

When the buzzer went off signaling the start of the bloodbath I jetted off of my podium and flew to the Cornucopia. I grabbed a short sword on a belt and strapped it to my waist but I didn't plan on using it. I had a different plan. I would be the ultimate Career, people would remember me. I planned on killing with my bare hands. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a girl grab a large knife from a pile stacked to my left. I ran to her, grabbed her around the throat and quickly broke her neck. One down. I ran into the melee going on around me and grabbed another tribute who was trying to scrounge up food and stuff it into a pack. I shoved him to the ground and put my boot on his troat, stomped, and his windpipe was crushed. Two down. My last kill was the girl from District 7, a brown haired girl with a fierce look in her eyes. I would see that look many years later when another brown haired girl went on a killing spree after pretending to be a terrified weakling the week before the games. I didn't know it but the girl I strangled to death, the girl that made me realize that killing wasn't really a joyous or noble thing to do had a baby girl at home that she would never return to. My third victim's daughter would turn out to be one of the most brutal and cunning tributes of all time and would become famous for deceiving the Capitol, the Districts, even her mentor Blight into thinking she was a weak waste of space.

The girl I killed though, the mother of the insidious trickster Johanna Mason she was a fighter from the beginning. She ran into the Cornucopia with no fear but I took her down. I sat on top of her small body and squeezed the life out of her. At first she clawed at my hands, trying to get them off of her throat but she couldn't. I looked straight into her eyes the whole time and I saw no fear, just a deep sadness. The last words she breathed out were "my little girl," and held up her arm, showing me the bracelet she was wearing and then she went limp. I was pretty sure that she was asking me to get the bracelet to her daughter. That was the moment I felt shame. I started doubting myself when she whispered those words but I pushed the feeling away. I shouldn't feel ashamed for doing what I came here to do. I was here to kill, that's what everyone at home wanted me to do so it was a good thing right? The only concession I made to my feelings was to tear the bracelet on her arm off, stuffing it in my pocket. If she had a little girl I would send the bracelet back to her. It was a simple wooden heart on a leather cord that had the name Johanna carved into the back of it. I assumed it was the name of the little girl she had been talking about. I couldn't believe they sent a tribute into the games who had a _child._ What was the Capitol thinking? What were the people in her District thinking? Why did no one volunteer for her? What did I just do? In District 2 anyone with a small child would never be sent into the games; neither would a twelve year old, a handicapped child, or a weak one. There were always trained volunteers ready to go.

During the rest of my games I made sure that I didn't look into the eyes of any of the other tributes that I killed and that I did it fast. I didn't want to see their souls leaving their body and I definetly didn't want them to say anything. I was already feeling guilty for killing someone's _mother _and I couldn't get the image of a motherless baby girl out of my head. I had a little sister, what if it had been my mother that died and she was left alone?I didn't know exactly why I cared except that my mother and my sister were the only people in the world that had ever been who were _kind_ to me. I always refused to acknowledge their efforts though because I was not supposed to have feelings, and I sure as hell was not supposed to love someone. But I wondered after the girl died if maybe I did in fact love my mother. I was pretty sure I loved my sister. I had from the moment I laid eyes on her. But that wasn't allowed so I never let myself think about it.

I killed six other tributes during the games, one more during the bloodbath and the other five during the following three weeks that I was in the arena. I came home a Victor, the ultimate Victor who killed with nothing but his bare hands. Great right? Except maybe it was easier to throw a spear through someone from a distance than to feel them struggle against you. I was a mentor for 17 years before I saw the brown eyes that haunted my dreams staring at me across the room as I loaded my tributes onto their chariot for their ride through the square. I nearly jumped out of my skin but I glared back in the direction of the girl who was dressed as some sort of tree sprite or something. She held my gaze and I wondered if she was the baby that had been left motherless all those years before. I watched her closely in training and she appeared to be nothing but a lost cause. She wasn't strong like the girl I suspected was her mother. I asked Blight if he knew anything about her family and he told me that she had done nothing but cry since she had been reaped and had said nothing about her family. The information that had been supplied by the Capitol about her was only that her mother had died in a previous games and that she lived with her father and grandmother.

The night of the interviews she confirmed my suspicions. She cried and told Cesar how her mother had been killed when she was a baby and that she wished she could have known her. Then she held up her arm and showed the audience the bracelet she was wearing. "This was my mother's token during her games, it has my name carved on the back of it and now it's my token too." Then she looked right at me and I swear that I was again looking into the eyes of the girl who made me doubt myself and all that I had been taught to believe in.

I watched the bloodbath holding my breath, hoping that this weakling child of a girl I had killed would not run into the fight. She didn't; she ran away. Three days later she watched as another tribute was cut down by the boy I was mentoring. She had lured the dead boy to his death by acting as live bait. She attracted his attention from her hiding place high in the trees and then pretended to be running away from him. He fell for her trick and ran through the forest following her as she flew through the trees. Being a District 7 tribute she was familiar with climbing and moving through trees. The children there worked with the lumber jacks, scaling the trees and tossing down any debris or loose branches that could fall on the tree cutters as their axes struck the tree trunks. Johanna led the boy straight toward the Careers who were hunting not too far away. From her vantage point she could see them, the unlucky boy could not.

When the boy was dead the Career pack left him where he lay, not even bothering to take the axe he carried with them as they had a whole pile of weapons back at the Cornucopia. Johanna had been counting on this and as soon as they were a safe distance away she scampered down the tree she was in and snatched up the axe. That was the moment she changed. Suddenly the sniveling, terrified little girl that I had seen so far disappeared and a stone cold killer was suddenly looking out at me through the monitor screens in the mentor booth. She pulled her long brown ponytail over her shoulder and cut through her hair with the axe blade. Her remaining hair hung in ragged disarray around her face. I didn't understand for a moment but then I realized that she didn't want anyone to be able to grab her hair and use it as a means of holding onto her. It was a deliberate, calculated move and so everything else had been as well. She let the competition think she was weak so that they wouldn't bother with her until the end. Smart girl.

I watched over the next few days as she rampaged through the arena, splitting open the heads and abdomens of her opponents. The last tribute was the boy I mentored. Of course it was. They fought for almost an hour and when she struck the final blow she screamed "Just die you District 2 Fucker!" But she wasn't really talking to him, she was looking straight at a camera and she knew I would be watching my tribute being hacked to pieces. She stood there, covered in my tribute's blood and smiled an evil smile. "You don't win this time Two," she hissed. Killing the male District 2 tribute had been her revenge for taking her mother. She didn't yet realize that it would never be good enough; that she had killed someone from Two but it wasn't me.


	2. Living Memories

The night of the interviews she confirmed my suspicions. She cried and told Cesar how her mother had been killed when she was a baby and that she wished she could have known her. Then she held up her arm and showed the audience the bracelet she was wearing. "This was my mother's token during her games, it has my name carved on the back of it and now it's my token too." Then she looked right at me and I swear that I was again looking into the eyes of the girl who made me doubt myself and all that I had been taught to believe in.

I watched the bloodbath holding my breath, hoping that this weakling child of a girl I had killed would not run into the fight. She didn't; she ran away. Three days later she watched as another tribute was cut down by the boy I was mentoring. She had lured the dead boy to his death by acting as live bait. She attracted his attention from her hiding place high in the trees and then pretended to be running away from him. He fell for her trick and ran through the forest following her as she flew through the trees. Being a District 7 tribute she was familiar with climbing and moving through trees. The children there worked with the lumber jacks, scaling the trees and tossing down any debris or loose branches that could fall on the tree cutters as their axes struck the tree trunks. Johanna led the boy straight toward the Careers who were hunting not too far away. From her vantage point she could see them, the unlucky boy could not.

When the boy was dead the Career pack left him where he lay, not even bothering to take the axe he carried with them as they had a whole pile of weapons back at the Cornucopia. Johanna had been counting on this and as soon as they were a safe distance away she scampered down the tree she was in and snatched up the axe. That was the moment she changed. Suddenly the sniveling, terrified little girl that I had seen so far disappeared and a stone cold killer was suddenly looking out at me through the monitor screens in the mentor booth. She pulled her long brown ponytail over her shoulder and cut through her hair with the axe blade. Her remaining hair hung in ragged disarray around her face. I didn't understand for a moment but then I realized that she didn't want anyone to be able to grab her hair and use it as a means of holding onto her. It was a deliberate, calculated move and so everything else had been as well. She let the competition think she was weak so that they wouldn't bother with her until the end. Smart girl.

I watched over the next few days as she rampaged through the arena, splitting open the heads and abdomens of her opponents. The last tribute was the boy I mentored. Of course it was. They fought for almost an hour and when she struck the final blow she screamed "Just die you District 2 Fucker!" But she wasn't really talking to him, she was looking straight at a camera and she knew I would be watching my tribute being hacked to pieces. She stood there, covered in my tribute's blood and smiled an evil smile. "You don't win this time Two," she hissed. Killing the male District 2 tribute had been her revenge for taking her mother. She didn't yet realize that it would never be good enough; that she had killed someone from Two but it wasn't me. Revenge is only satisfying when it's directed at the right target.


	3. Death Does Not and Will Not Come Softly

When the girl came out of the arena no one was able to put her back together. They didn't understand that she had been broken for her whole life, that I had broken her. She was angry, vicious, unstable and seemed to hate everyone. I knew it was her way of making sure that she didn't break any farther. The only other Victors she seemed to tolerate were Seeder and Mags because they were old, and she was almost friendly with Finnick, but what woman isn't friendly with Finnick? She never said a word to me, merely fixed me with an icy stare whenever she was me and let me know how much she hated me in other ways. She carved up the chair in my mentor booth and left the hatchet she used sticking out of the mutilated chair arm. She left a dead squirrel hanging from the doorknob of the District 2 suite in the Training Center. She put a box of scorpions under my bed. How she pulled that one off I'll never know but I know it was her. The other mentors might not like me but they didn't hate me enough to leave me the type of deadly warnings that Johanna did. I just ignored them, she had every right to hate me and honestly I admired her spunk although the scorpions were a little over the top but she wouldn't have been disappointed if I had died from their stings.

Things came to a head during the second games that Johanna spent as a mentor. My tribute tortured hers to death. It wasn't quick and it wasn't pretty and it was not pretty to watch. About 5 seconds after that the door to the District 2 booth flew open and slammed against the wall. "What the fuck is wrong with your kid you bastard?!" Johanna yelled. Enobaria was instantly on her feet and in Johanna's face.

"Who the fuck said you could come in here?" Enobaria yelled back, baring her teeth and showing off her fangs.

"Get the fuck out of my face you pointy toothed bitch! I'm talking to him!" was the reply. I don't know who moved first but suddenly Johanna was slammed against the wall by Enobaria who was backhanded by Johanna. I jumped up to separate them just as Gloss ran in to see what was happening. I took Enobaria and he took Johanna and we pulled the two apart. They kicked and scratched and bit trying to get away from us and back to each other but finally Finnick opened his door and helped Gloss wrestle Johanna out of the room. She was screaming the whole way about how they should let her go so she could kill Enobaria. I threw Enobaria into her chair and gave her a menacing glare. I had been one of her mentors, she wouldn't cross me. I stepped out into the hall to see where they had taken Johanna and the two boys were still struggling to get her down the hall and into an elevator. She saw me and fought even harder. "After I'm done with her I'll kill you you mother fucker! One day I'm going to kill you! I can't wait to watch you bleed!" About this time Finnick and Gloss shoved her into an elevator and I heard no more. I had no doubt that one day she would kill me, it was just a question of when. Most of the other Victors had opened their doors to see what was going on or had already been sitting in the living area.

"What the hell was that about? Just her tribute?" asked Haymitch.

Everyone turned to look at me. Blight looked at me, quiet fury burning in his eyes and said "It's not just about our tributes, Brutus killed her mother." Everyone stared at me; confusion, revulsion, and finally understanding crossed the faces of everyone in the room. I hated the way they were all staring at me. I shouldn't have to feel ashamed of what I did in the Games; the whole room was full of killers. I stood there for a moment stone faced and silent and then turned and slammed back into my own control booth.

"Did you really kill her mother?" Enobaria asked as I flopped down in my chair and kicked the wall.

"Yeah, I did. I didn't know she had a kid. What the hell was someone with a kid doing in the Games anyway? What kind of people don't send in a volunteer for someone with a baby? Fucking losers, that's who. Before she died she asked me to give her bracelet to her daughter. I kept it around my wrist through the whole games. When they were over I gave it to Cedar, he used to be a Mentor for 7, he died a few years after I won. He gave it back to Johanna's family I guess because she was wearing it in her games too."

Enobaria raised her eyebrows at me. "Huh," was all said and turned back to the screens. After the one outburst Johanna returned to treating me with cold, hate-filled silence although she still left me little "gifts" from time to time. I never said anything and neither did she unless it was to call me "mother fucker" or "bastard" or some other colorful epitaph when our tributes clashed. After one particularly nasty gift, a bucket of blood poured all over the floor of my booth Haymitch found me swearing and slamming the door on the blood soaked room.

"She really might kill you someday," he said in between swigs from his bottle of liquor.

"Probably," I said. "But not today."


	4. Quarter Quell Revenge

When the rules for the Second Quarter Quell were announced I knew that the end had come and I would go into these games like I went into my first: as a proud volunteer. I knew that Johanna would be reaped; she was the only female Victor in her district. I knew that somehow she would find a way to make good on her promise of killing me. Part of me was excited about going back into the Games, I had been trained to kill after all but part of me remembered the girl from so many years ago and how the light had left her eyes and her arm had fallen against my shoulder when she died. I wondered if it would feel like that to kill one of the other mentors or whether I would like it. What if I had to kill Enobaria? Could I do that? Maybe if she was attacking me and trying to those fangs into me I could. What about old Mags? Could I kill her? Crazy old Woof was almost as old as Woof and he was going in too. His District partner Cecelia had 3 children so I knew I would be staying away from her; I learned the last time I was in the arena killing people with children eats at you and also maybe dishonorable? Besides I saw the monster I had helped to create during Johanna's games. Her pain and rage turned her into a psychotic killer for a time and he didn't really want Cecelia's kids to turn into that, especially if they had to watch their mother die.

Enobaria and I escaped the bloodbath fairly easily. Gloss and Cashmere ended up fighting Cecelia and Seeder so I was spared the dirty work there. Districts 4 and 12 took off after snagging some weapons. At one point after killing the drunk from District 5 I heard a noise behind me and turned to my left, sword at the ready. I didn't swing it though because the person behind me was Johanna and as yet she was weaponless. She looked up at me, glared and kicked me in the knee. I fell to the ground and she ran past me and grabbed two axes that were waiting for her on the left side of the Cornucopia. I could have killed her, I should have killed her because this was the Hunger Games and I was a Career and she was another tribute that could potentially take me down; one who would probably take me down and in a bad way. But she had gotten her chance from me; I let her go because I couldn't have those brown eyes haunting me anymore. If I killed Johanna I would have killed both the mother and daughter and there would be two sets of eyes in my nightmares and the mother's were enough.

Enobaria and I tracked the others for days and got caught with them in the blood rain, got bitten by the clicking carnivorous insects, and checked out the beast we heard devouring another tribute. Enobaria just wanted to kill everyone off but I wouldn't let her. "Not unless they attack first," I told her.

"But we're supposed to be hunting them," she protested. "Not watching them run swim and eat."

"No, what we are supposed to do is die Enobaria," I told her. "This time it's not about us and killing as many people as possible, it's about the romance of the star-crossed lovers. If you kill one of them who knows what the Capitol will do? They sent us here to create a good show but not by killing, by dying."

"Screw that!" was her only reply.

On turned out to be the final night of the Games I watched the Girl on Fire and Johanna unspool a wire running from a lightning tree in the arena to the saltwater lake in the center. Some crazy idea that Beetee came up with, I heard him tell the others that it will electrify the beach. Enobaria and I are heading away from Beetee and the others so that we won't be in the wedge where the electricity is going to strike when all of a sudden the line that Johanna and Katniss had been pulling onto the beach goes slack. I hear it smack against a tree and make a twanging sound. Enobaria and I turn and suddenly Peeta is hurtling down the hill at us tailed by a yelling Finnick Odair. Peeta is screaming for Katniss; he must have seen the line go slack. Katniss isn't answering and he's getting frantic. Enobaria suddenly veers to the left and I see that she is going after Finnick. There is the sound of running feet on my other side and I look up to see Johanna running towards me through the undergrowth. She doesn't see me and keeps sprinting in the direction that Finnick and Enobaria ran in. There must be some place where their alliance is meeting up but where is Katniss? Peeta comes flying out of the trees and I move toward him and Johanna unsure of what I'm going to do when suddenly a body blocks my path. It's dark under the trees at night and I have a hard time seeing who it is at first but then I see and handless arm raised into the air and I know its Chaff not Beetee.

Chaff is carrying a sword which he swings his sword at me and I quickly block with my own. He swings again yelling obscenities and grunting. I can see his eyes when he steps into the moonlight and I realize that this is not the Chaff I know. This is not the Chaff who was my sort of friend and fellow Victor this is a crazy man. He wouldn't be the first tribute to be driven insane by the arena and this particular arena seems designed especially for that purpose. We fight for several minutes and I end up being the one to deal the death blow. Before I have time to process Chaff's death Peeta is suddenly on me with a knife to my throat. What the hell? Where did he come from? He moves quickly and partially slits my throat before I can shake him off. He drops me on the ground and runs and I lay there looking up at the jungle canopy trying to figure out what exactly has just happened to me when I hear the sounds of footsteps coming towards me again. Suddenly Johanna's face looms above mine and she grins down at me. "I told you I would kill you one day," she says pulling her axe from her belt. She raises her axe above me and I look up into her eyes and see only the brown haired girl that I strangled so many years ago. Her insane daughter has disappeared and there is only the girl before darkness fills me.


End file.
